The Armor Of God

by Don Hite

What does it mean to put on the armor of God?

In Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians at Ephesus he tells them and Christians everywhere that we need to be “Strong in the Lord and in his mighty power” and to do so we need to “Put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.”

As Christians we need the FULL armor of God more so than nonbelievers because Satan the fallen angel Lucifer hates us more than others and he and his horde of fallen angels will tempt us into sin daily.

We need the armor of God so that we can stand against the great deceiver or the accuser - Satan the Devil:

Ephesians 6:10-13 – NIV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Paul tells us that the full armor of God consists of the following in verses 14-17:

The belt of truth - Verse 6:14
The breastplate of righteousness - Verse 6:14
Your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace - Verse 6:15
The shield of faith - Verse 6:16
The helmet of salvation - Verse 6:17
The sword of the Spirit - Verse 6:17

Ephesians 6:14-17 – NIV

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

When we as Christians put on the full armor of God we are dressed or armed with the tools necessary to abstain from sin and resist evil if we know how to use the tools God provides for us.

But since we are flesh and blood we fail over and over and when this happens we need to ask for our sins to be forgiven and try and sin no more:

Romans 3:23-24 - NIV

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

God loves us and wants us to remain faithful and resist sin and everything evil. God also knows that we are human and that is why he sent Jesus Christ down to earth fully human to die on the cross for us:

Romans 5:8 – NIV
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

With your God given tools and the armor of God, you can you can defend yourself from the forces of evil because we are sealed by God and Redeemed by Jesus Christ.